Thermal and mechanical models for intact and jointed rock mass behavior are being developed, verified, and validated at Sandia National Laboratories for the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project. Benchmarking is an essential part of this effort and is one of the tools used to demonstrate verification of engineering software used to solve thermomechanical problems. This report presents the results of the third (and final) phase of the first thermomechanical benchmark exercise. In the first phase of this exercise, nonlinear heat conduction code were used to solve the thermal portion of the benchmark problem. The results from the thermal analysis were then used as input to the second and third phases of the exercise, which consisted of solving the structural portion of the benchmark problem. In the second phase of the exercise, a linear elastic rock mass model was used. In the third phase of the exercise, two different nonlinear jointed rock mass models were used to solve the thermostructural problem. Both models, the Sandia compliant joint model and the RE/SPEC joint empirical model, explicitly incorporate the effect of the joints on the response of the continuum. Three different structural codes, JAC, SANCHO, and SPECTROM-31, were used with the above models …

This report documents the results of sensitivity and uncertainty analyses conducted to improve understanding of unsaturated zone ground-water travel time distribution at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The US Department of Energy (DOE) is currently performing detailed studies at Yucca Mountain to determine its suitability as a host for a geologic repository for the containment of high-level nuclear wastes. As part of these studies, DOE is conducting a series of Performance Assessment Calculational Exercises, referred to as the PACE problems. The work documented in this report represents a part of the PACE-90 problems that addresses the effects of natural barriers of the site that will stop or impede the long-term movement of radionuclides from the potential repository to the accessible environment. In particular, analyses described in this report were designed to investigate the sensitivity of the ground-water travel time distribution to different input parameters and the impact of uncertainty associated with those input parameters. Five input parameters were investigated in this study: recharge rate, saturated hydraulic conductivity, matrix porosity, and two curve-fitting parameters used for the van Genuchten relations to quantify the unsaturated moisture-retention and hydraulic characteristics of the matrix. 23 refs., 20 figs., 10 tabs.

This report summarizes the bottoms-up cost estimates for fabrication of high-level radioactive waste disposal containers based on the Site Characterization Plan Conceptual Design (SCP-CD). These estimates were acquired by Babcock and Wilcox (B&S) under sub-contract to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project (YMP). The estimates were obtained for two leading container candidate materials (Alloy 825 and CDA 715), and from other three vendors who were selected from a list of twenty solicited. Three types of container designs were analyzed that represent containers for spent fuel, and for vitrified high-level waste (HLW). The container internal structures were assumed to be AISI-304 stainless steel in all cases, with an annual production rate of 750 containers. Subjective techniques were used for estimating QA/QC costs based on vendor experience and the specifications derived for the LLNL-YMP Quality Assurance program. In addition, an independent QA/QC analysis is reported which was prepared by Kasier Engineering. Based on the cost estimates developed, LLNL recommends that values of $825K and $62K be used for the 1991 TSLCC for the spent fuel and HLW containers, respectively. These numbers represent the most conservative among the three vendors, and are for the high-nickel anstenitic steel …

Test well USW H-6 is one of several wells drilled in the Yucca Mountain area near the southwestern part of the Nevada Test Site for investigations related to isolation of high-level nuclear waste. This well was drilled to a depth of 1,220 meters. Rocks penetrated are predominantly ash-flow tuffs of Tertiary age, with the principal exception of dacitic(?) lave penetrated at a depth from 877 to 1,126 meters. The composite static water level was about 526 meters below the land surface; the hydraulic head increased slightly with depth. Most permeability in the saturated zone is in two fractured intervals in Crater Flat Tuff. Based on well-test data using the transitional part of a dual-porosity solution, an interval of about 15 meters in the middle part of the Bullfrog Member of the Crater Flat Tuff has a calculated transmissivity of about 140 meters squared per day, and an interval of about 11 meters in the middle part of the Tram Member of the Crater Flat Tuff has a calculated transmissivity of about 75 meters squared per day. The upper part of the Bullfrog Member has a transmissivity of about 20 meters squared per day. The maximum likely transmissivity of any rocks …

STRES3D is a thermomechanical analysis code for predicting transient temperatures, stresses and displacements in an infinite and semi-infinite, conducting, homogeneous, elastic medium. The heat generated at the sources can be constant or decay exponentially with time. Superposition is used to integrate the effect of heat sources distributed in space and time to simulate the thermomechanical effect of placement of heat generating nuclear waste canisters in an underground repository. Heat sources can be defined by point, lines or plates with numerical integration of the kernal point source solution used to develop the line and plate sources. STRES3D is programmed using FORTRAN77 and is suitable for use on micro or larger computer systems.

This report consists of Yucca Mountain Project bibliographies. It is the appendix to a report that summarizes data collected between September 1986 and September 1988 relative to Native American concerns involving the potential siting of a high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The data were collected from Western Shoshone and Southern Paiute people upon whose aboriginal lands the repository potentially is to be located. Western Shoshone people involved in the study were those resident or affiliated with reservation communities at Yomba and Duckwater, Nevada, and Death Valley, California. Southern Paiute people were at reservation communities at Moapa and Las Vegas. Additional persons of Western Shoshone and Southern Paiute descent were interviewed at Beatty, Tonopah, Caliente, Pahrump, and Las Vegas, Nevada. The work was part of a larger project of socioeconomic studies for the State of Nevada`s Nuclear Waste Projects office, conducted by Mountain West of Phoenix, Arizona.

This report summarizes data collected between September 1986 and September 1988 relative to Native American concerns involving the potential siting of a high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The data were collected from Western Shoshone and Southern Paiute people upon whose aboriginal lands the repository potentially is to be located. Western Shoshone people involved in the study were those resident or affiliated with reservation communities at Yomba and Duckwater, Nevada, and Death Valley, California. Southern Paiute people were at reservation communities at Moapa and Las Vegas. Additional persons of Western Shoshone and Southern Paiute descent were interviewed at Beatty, Tonopah, Caliente, Pahrump, and Las Vegas, Nevada. The work was part of a larger project of socioeconomic studies for the State of Nevada`s Nuclear Waste Projects office, conducted by Mountain West of Phoenix, Arizona.

This report presents appendices related to the preliminary assessment and risk analysis for high-level radioactive waste transportation routes to the proposed Yucca Mountain Project repository. Information includes data on population density, traffic volume, ecologically sensitive areas, and accident history.

Studies show that most Nevada residents and almost all state officials oppose the proposed high-level radioactive waste repository project at Yucca Mountain. Surveys of the public show that individual citizens view the Yucca Mountain repository as having high risk; nuclear experts, in contrast, believe the risks are very low. Policy analysts have suggested that public risk perceptions may be reduced by better program management, increased trust in the federal government, and increased economic benefits for accepting a repository. The model developed in this study is designed to examine the relationship between public perceptions of risk, trust in risk management, and potential economic impacts of the current repository program using a confirmatory multivariate method known as covariance structure analysis. The results indicate that perceptions of potential economic gains have little relationship to opposition to the repository. On the other hand, risk perceptions and the level of trust in repository management are closely related to each other and to opposition. The impacts of risk perception and trust in management on opposition to the repository result from a combination of their direct influences as well as their indirect influences operating through perceptions that the repository would have serious negative impacts on the state`s …

This report provides a description of the operational and physical characteristics of the Nevada railroad system. To understand the dynamics of the rail system, one must consider the system`s physical characteristics, routing, uses, interactions with other systems, and unique operational characteristics, if any. This report is presented in two parts. The first part is a narrative description of all mainlines and major branchlines of the Nevada railroad system. Each Nevada rail route is described, including the route`s physical characteristics, traffic type and volume, track conditions, and history. The second part of this study provides a more detailed analysis of Nevada railroad accident characteristics than was presented in the Preliminary Nevada Transportation Accident Characterization Study (DOE, 1990).

This study investigates the effects of potential drops of a typical shipping cask, waste container, and bare fuel assembly during waste-handling operations at the prospective Yucca Mountain Repository. The waste-handling process (one stage, no consolidation configuration) is examined to estimate the maximum loads imposed on typical casks and containers as they are handled by various pieces of equipment during waste-handling operations. Maximum potential drop heights for casks and containers are also evaluated for different operations. A nonlinear finite-element model is employed to represent a hybrid spent fuel container subject to drop heights of up to 30 ft onto a reinforced concrete floor. The impact stress, strain, and deformation are calculated, and compared to the failure criteria to estimate the limiting (maximum permissible) drop height for the waste container. A typical Westinghouse 17 {times} 17 PWR fuel assembly is analyzed by a simplified model to estimate the energy absorption by various parts of the fuel assembly during a 30 ft drop, and to determine the amount of kinetic energy in a fuel pin at impact. A nonlinear finite-element analysis of an individual fuel pin is also performed to estimate the amount of fuel pellet fracture due to impact. This work was …

Experiments are being conducted that examine the reaction of UO{sub 2} with dripping oxygenated ground water at 90{degrees}C. The experiments are designed to identify secondary phases formed during UO{sub 2} alteration, evaluate parameters controlling U release, and act as scoping tests for studies with spent fuel. This study is the first of its kind that examines the alteration of UO{sub 2} under unsaturated conditions expected to exist at the proposed Yucca Mountain repository site. Results suggest the UO{sub 2} matrix will readily react within a few months after being exposed to simulated Yucca Mountain conditions. A pulse of rapid U release, combined with the formation of dehydrated schoepite on the UO{sub 2} surface, characterizes the reaction between one to two years. Rapid dissolution of intergrain boundaries and spallation of UO{sub 2} granules appears to be responsible for much of the U released. Differential release of the UO{sub 2} granules may be responsible for much of the variation observed between duplicate experiments. Less than 5 wt % of the released U remains in solution or in a suspended form, while the remaining settles out of solution as fine particles or is reprecipitated as secondary phases. Subsequent to the pulse period, U …

The flow behavior of a two-dimensional, unsaturated fracture-matrix system is characterized by a critical flux q*{sub f} = {phi}(S{sub s} {minus} S{sub i})D{sub m} where {phi} is matrix porosity, S{sub s} maximum matrix saturation, S{sub i} initial saturation, and D{sub m} matrix imbibition diffusivity constant. If the flux q{sub f} into the fracture satisfies q{sub f} {much_gt} q*{sub f}, the flow field is fracture-dominated; whereas, if q{sub f} {much_lt} q*{sub f}, the flow is matrix-dominated, and the system behaves as a single equivalent medium with capillary equilibrium between fracture and matrix. If the fracture entrance is ponded, the critical fracture hydraulic conductivity K*{sub f}, or corresponding critical aperture 2b* from the ``cubic law,`` controls the flow behavior instead of the critical flux. Rocks with fracture apertures 2b that are sufficiently large, b{sup 3} {much_gt} b*{sup 3}, have flow that is fracture-dominated while rocks with small aperture fractures, b{sup 3} {much_lt} b*{sup 3}, will be matrix-dominated. Numerical modeling verifies the theory and tests approximate analytical solutions predicting fracture front movement. 15 refs., 7 figs., 4 tabs.

Under the sponsorship of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is developing a performance assessment methodology for the analysis of long-term disposal and isolation of high-level nuclear wastes (HLW) in alternative geologic media. As part of this exercise, SNL created a conceptualization of ground-water flow and radionuclide transport in the far field of a hypothetical HLW repository site located in unsaturated, fractured tuff formations. This study provides a foundation for the development of conceptual mathematical, and numerical models to be used in this performance assessment methodology. This conceptualization is site specific in terms of geometry, the regional ground-water flow system, stratigraphy, and structure in that these are based on information from Yucca Mountain located on the Nevada Test Site. However, in terms of processes in unsaturated, fractured, porous media, the model is generic. This report also provides a review and evaluation of previously proposed conceptual models of unsaturated and saturated flow and solute transport. This report provides a qualitative description of a hypothetical HLW repository site in fractured tuff. However, evaluation of the current knowledge of flow and transport at Yucca Mountain does not yield a single conceptual model. Instead, multiple conceptual models are possible given …

Detailed mapping and structural analysis of upper Proterozoic and Paleozoic rocks in the CP Hills of the Nevada Test Site, together with analysis of published maps and cross sections and a reconnaissance of regional structural relations indicate that the CP thrust of Barnes and Poole (1968) actually comprises two separate, oppositely verging Mesozoic thrust systems: (1) the west-vergent CP thrust which is well exposed in the CP Hills and at Mine Mountain, and (2) the east-vergent Belted Range thrust located northwest of Yucca Flat. West-vergence of the CP thrust is indicated by large scale west-vergent recumbent folds in both its hangingwall and footwall and by the fact that the CP thrust ramps up section through hangingwall strata toward the northwest. Regional structural relations indicate that the CP thrust forms part of a narrow sigmoidal belt of west-vergent folding and thrusting traceable for over 180 km along strike. The Belted Range thrust represents earlier Mesozoic deformation that was probably related to the Last Chance thrust system in southeastern California, as suggested by earlier workers. A pre-Tertiary reconstruction of the Cordilleran fold and thrust belt in the region between the NTS and the Las Vegas Range bears a close resemblance to other …

The HEFF Code combines a simple boundary-element method of stress analysis with the closed form solutions for constant or exponentially decaying heat sources in an infinite elastic body to obtain an approximate method for analysis of underground excavations in a rock mass with heat generation. This manual describes the theoretical basis for the code, the code structure, model preparation, and step taken to assure that the code correctly performs its intended functions. The material contained within the report addresses the Software Quality Assurance Requirements for the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project. 13 refs., 26 figs., 14 tabs.

Native Americans` concerns arising from the possibility of establishment of a nuclear repository for high level wastes at Yucca Mountain fall principally into two main categories. First, the strongest objection to the repository comes from traditional Western Shoshones. Their objections are based on a claim that the Western Shoshones still own Yucca Mountain and also on the assertion that putting high level nuclear wastes into the ground is a violation of their religious views regarding nature. Second, there are several reservations around the Yucca Mountain site that might be affected in various ways by building of the repository. There is a question about how many such reservations there are, which can only be decided when more information is available. This report discusses two questions: the bearing of the continued vigorous assertion by traditionalist Western Shoshones of their land claim; and the extent to which Nevada state and local governments are able to understand and represent Indian viewpoints about Yucca Mountain.

This document is an end-of-contract report, prepared by Hydro Geo Chem for Los Alamos National Laboratory under contract number 9-XDD-6329F-1. The ultimate goal of this work is to characterize historical infiltration and unsaturated flow in the Yucca Mountain area of the Nevada Test Site. Work on this contract has focused on using chloride, bromide, stable chlorine isotopes, and chlorine-36 distributions to evaluate the depth of infiltration in the unsaturated zone. Effort in support of this work has included developing analytical procedures, exploring ways in which to separate the. meteoric component from the rock component, and meeting quality assurance requirements.

As part of the code development and modeling work being carried out to characterize the flow in the unsaturated zone at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, capillary hysteresis models simulating the history-dependence of the characteristic curves have been developed. The objective of the work has been both to develop the hysteresis models, as well as to obtain some preliminary estimates of the possible hysteresis effects in the fractured rocks at Yucca Mountain given the limitations of presently available data. Altogether three different models were developed based on work of other investigators reported in the literature. In these three models different principles are used for determining the scanning paths: in model (1) the scanning paths are interpolated from tabulated first-order scanning curves, in model (2) simple interpolation functions are used for scaling the scanning paths from the expressions of the main wetting and main drying curves and in model (3) the scanning paths are determined from expressions derived based on the dependent domain theory of hysteresis.

For approximately 25 years the United States has conducted underground nuclear tests at a site in the state of Nevada. These tests have left a variety of fission products at depths of 100 to 1000 meters below the land surface. The geologic media here consist primarily of tuffs and rhyolites. More than 150 tests were conducted at or below the water table. We are studying locations of past tests to determine whether residual fission products move through the underground environment and, if so, by what mechanisms. Our research involves consideration of leaching, sorption, hydraulic dispersion, fracture flow and colloid transport. The data we obtain are relevant to groundwater contamination and nuclear waste storage issues. In this paper we present information obtained from our research at several different locations within the study site. Specifically, we describe the movement of radionuclides including tritium, {sup 85}Kr, {sup 90}Sr, {sup 106}Ru, {sup 125}Sb, and {sup 137}Cs in situations were groundwater was moving and in which it was relatively static. 15 refs., 2 figs.

This Annual Report presents summaries of selected representative research activities grouped according to the principal disciplines of the Earth Sciences Division: Reservoir Engineering and Hydrogeology, Geology and Geochemistry, and Geophysics and Geomechanics. Much of the Division`s research deals with the physical and chemical properties and processes in the earth`s crust, from the partially saturated, low-temperature near-surface environment to the high-temperature environments characteristic of regions where magmatic-hydrothermal processes are active. Strengths in laboratory and field instrumentation, numerical modeling, and in situ measurement allow study of the transport of mass and heat through geologic media -- studies that now include the appropriate chemical reactions and the hydraulic-mechanical complexities of fractured rock systems. Of particular note are three major Division efforts addressing problems in the discovery and recovery of petroleum, the application of isotope geochemistry to the study of geodynamic processes and earth history, and the development of borehole methods for high-resolution imaging of the subsurface using seismic and electromagnetic waves. In 1989 a major DOE-wide effort was launched in the areas of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management. Many of the methods previously developed for and applied to deeper regions of the earth will in the coming years be turned toward process definition …

The Waste Package Project Research Team, at UNLV, has four general required tasks. Task one is the management, quality assurance, and overview of the research that is performed under the cooperative agreement. Task two is the structural analysis of spent fuel and high level waste. Task three is an American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Pressure Vessel Code review for waste package application. Finally, task four is waste package labeling. This report includes preliminary information about task three (ASME Pressure Vessel Code review for Waste package Application). The first objective is to compile a list of the ASME Pressure Vessel Code that can be applied to waste package containers design and manufacturing processes. The second objective is to explore the use of these applicable codes to the preliminary waste package container designs. The final objective is to perform a library search for reliability and/or failure rates data on low pressure, low temperature, containers and casks with long design lives.

The Yucca Mountain Project/Spent Fuel program at Argonne National Laboratory is designed to determine radionuclide release rates by exposing high-level waste to repository-relevant groundwater. To gain experience for the tests with spent fuel, a scoping experiment was conducted at room temperature to determine the uranium release rate from an unirradiated uranium dioxide powder mixture (14.3 wt % enrichment in uranium-235) to J-13 water under saturated conditions. Another goal set for the experiment was to develop a method for utilizing isotope dilution techniques to determine whether the dissolution rate of uranium dioxide matrix is in accordance with an existing kinetic model. Results of these analyses revealed unequal uranium dissolution rates from the enriched and depleted portions of the powder mixture because of undisclosed differences between them. Although the presence of this inhomogeneity has precluded the application of the kinetic model, it also provided an opportunity to elaborate on the utilization of isotope dilution data in recognizing and quantifying such conditions. Detailed listings of uranium release and solution chemistry data are presented. Other problems commonly associated with spent fuel, such as the effectiveness of filtering media, the existence of uranium concentration peaks during early stages of the leach tests, the need for …

The Yucca Mountain Project/Spent Fuel program at Argonne National Laboratory is designed to determine radionuclide release rates by exposing high-level waste to repository-relevant groundwater. To gain experience for the tests with spent fuel, a scoping experiment was conducted at room temperature to determine the uranium release rate from an unirradiated UO{sub 2} powder mixture (14.3 wt % enrichment in {sup 235}U) to J-13 water under saturated conditions. Another goal set for the experiment was to develop a method for utilizing isotope dilution techniques to determine whether the dissolution rate of UO{sub 2} matrix is in accordance with an existing kinetic model. Results of these analyses revealed unequal uranium dissolution rates from the enriched and depleted portions of the powder mixture because of undisclosed differences between them. Although the presence of this inhomogeneity has precluded the application of the kinetic model, it also provided an opportunity to elaborate on the utilization of isotope dilution data in recognizing and quantifying such conditions. Detailed listings of uranium release and solution chemistry data are presented. Other problems commonly associated with spent fuel, such as the effectiveness of filtering media, the existence of uranium concentration peaks during early stages of the leach tests, the need …